Betina Garcia

Biography:
Betina Garcia is a visual journalist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Driven by curiosity, she’s on a quest to know people and what motivates them – she wants to expand people’s perspective on life. Her stories have been published in various...
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Marcos Espinoza, 17, is one of the Hispanics who stays very true to his roots. On the ranch he lives with his two siblings, parents, his moms parents and his uncle. Everyday he rides horses and help his uncle and grandfather maintaining the ranch and taking care of the cattle. "I'm an American, but I got that Mexican blood in me," he said.

The family went to a surprise birthday party for their cousin in December, 2015. From left: Marcos uncle Juan Barrillas with his girlfriend Blanca, a 23-year-old Mexican girl, who is carrying the couples first child. Next to Juan is grandfather Manuel Barrillas who is enjoying a talk with his brother. They are a total of 11 brothers and one sister in their family. In the Guatemalan culture it is very natural to have a lot of kids. "The more the merrier," they both say. Manuel loves all his grandchildren and spends a lot of time with them passing on his Guatemalan culture and values. He has 6 grandchildren so far.

Marcos is cleaning the stable after a day of riding on September 16, 2015."I've always been a ranch boy. Like a country boy," he said. Marcos goes to Bowling Green High School and will graduate next year. He grew up on a small ranch in California, where his grandfather Manuel Barrillas lived with the family. It was his grandfather who introduced him to the ranchero life style and he has been hooked ever since he sat on a horse for the first time at the age of 5.

Overview of the ranch at night. Grandfather Manuel Barrillas bought the ranch with his sons Juan and Manuel Barrillas about three years ago as the market for a farm was very cheap in Bowling Green, Kentucky compared to California where the prices are increasing rapidly. Grandfather Manuel is born in Guatemala and was raised on a farm. In 1986 he had to flee his country as local guerrillas were kidnapping and killing people who came from the Middle class and higher, which was the reason he brought his wife and three sons to America.The situation has become more stable, but local extortion and kidnappings are still part of everyday life. In December 2015his cousin got killed, because he didn't wanted to pay the local gangs extortion money. The cousin got killed in a car where his oldest son was sitting next to him. "You could never feel safe and that is very stressful, because you're constantly worrying about you and your family's safety," he said.

Almost every Friday and Saturday the family makes a bonfire and friends of the family come to the ranch to drink beer and hang out. They normally listen to Mexican music and sing along. Marcos sits next to his cousin Elisa Yamileth, who is 15 years old. Marcos hasn't been here so long, so he doesn't know a lot of people yet. He has friends of all races. “I have American friends, Mexican friends, and African American friends," he said.

He does not feel that anyone is judging him by his race; rather that it is just hard to make friends. "I haven't experienced anyone being racist more them being stuck-up. Most of them don’t like to talk to people they don’t know,” he said. “But I have a few friends at school, and they are pretty cool.

Nayda Espinoza, 12, poses for a portrait in her bedroom at the ranch on December 28, 2015. Nayda sleeps in her parents bedroom until the family is done expanding the house, so she can get a private room. Nayda dreams of being an Interior or fashion designer. Now she has her own chickens she's in charge of and earns money on selling eggs to family and friends.

On a Saturday in December the group took a little trip to their Guatemalan friend Wilsons workplace where he takes care of the cattle outside Bowling Green, Ky. The caught some cows so they could practice their roping skills. It's essential to be a true ranchero, as you sometimes need to catch the cows in order to give them medicine or slaughter them. Marcos loves doing roping and being on his horse Maximo. "To get away from everything and everyone, I would just go riding. I would saddle my horse and just leave. You live in the moment, it is just you and the horse," he said.

After a day of roping Marcos' uncle Chino Barrillas hand got a bit hurt. Chino is one of the Hispanics in the U.S. that works in the construction industry.

Hispanics comprise 30% of the U.S. construction workforce. Hispanic workers play a large role in the U.S. workforce, especially in industries with a high proportion of production or blue-collar occupations. In 2008, Hispanic production workers made up 36% and 30% of the workforce in agriculture and construction respectively, and encompassed 22% of the employees in all industries.

On January 9, 2016 the family is throwing a surprise birthday party for the grandma Elisa Barrillas. Marcos sits in the kitchen with his uncle Manuel and Pedro Nuñez, a Mexcian friend of the family. The ranch has become a place that always gather a lot of people from Mexico and Guatemala as they all share the same values and have a understanding for their Hispanic culture.

Marcos stands between "Cowboy" and his grandfather Manuel on December 19, 2015 in front of the bonfire at the ranch.

When Manuel first came to California in 1986 as an illegal immigrant his brother-in-law got him a job with an American constructor. He started out by taking trash from the construction area. When he quit the job 20 years later he was one of the constructors and had built several houses in Malibu. "Coming to America was a hard transition especially with the language barrier. We worked 12 hours a day and it was hard work, but I am very appreciative that we could work so I could provide for my family. We were a huge group from Guatemala working there, which was nice because we all came from the same background," Manuel said.

On Saturday September 26, 2015 Elisa Yamileth is having her Quinceañera, which is a mexican tradition for celebrating a 15th birthday. Yamileth is being taking to the church in a horse carriage in Bowling Green, Ky where they family will gather for a ceremony. Her cousin Paco makes a selfie or her and her cousin. In the back her uncle Juan Barillas and two friends of the family got their horses dressed up so they could do a parade. In Mexico the quinceañera is considered a big thing when a young girl enters womenhood.

It’s sunday and Marcos is resting in the hammock at the ranch. His parents go to Iglesia La Hermosa, a Hispanic church every sunday. They try to make him and his siblings go too, but they won’t force them. “I don’t like going so much. I will rather stay here and chill with my uncle and his friends”, he says. The mother felt people were a bit racist when she went here a few years ago. "One time I was in the mall and talking to my cousin on the phone in Spanish. The women looked at me with disgrace because they weren't used to see Hispanics. Today it's different, now there are way more hispanics over here," Julissa says.

At a surprise party for the grandma Elisa Barrillas all her grandchildren kiss and hug her before she has to blow out the candle while the rest of the family is clapping and singing in Spanish. Manuelito is the youngest grandchild at the age of 5, who at this point only knows a few words of English. His grandfathers never learned English and they take care of him during the day so his parents can work.

On a Saturday in December Marcos' brother Francisco (or Paco as they call him) also went to their Guatemalan friend Wilsons workplace where he takes care of the cattle outside Bowling Green, Ky. After they had practiced their roping skills Paco waits for them to leave the ranch. He is 19 years old. He also likes riding horses and the ranchero lifestyle but at the age of 16 he got more into cars and now study to be a mechanic. Paco has an American girlfriend he has been with for over a year. "It is true that there are many differences between Americans and Hispanics. That is why I mostly hang out with people like me, who are hispanics but born in America. We understand each other. But the Americans are nice too, like my girlfriend,"he said.

Marcos Espinoza and his family are preparing for the celebration of Elisas 15th birthday party know as the "Quinceañera", where about 200 people will attend. They slaughtered a cow so they had meat for the party. "My dream is to get my own ranch or in fact have a bunch of them," Marcos said in his perfect English. It's the way he has been brought up and the way he wishes to continue.

At a party at the ranch the twins are playing foosball on January 9, 2016. The Hispanic kids often get caught in the system as they are legal when they are born in the U.S. About 295,000 babies were born to unauthorized-immigrant parents in 2013, making up 8% of the 3.9 million U.S. births.

One of Marcos’ best friends is Hector Gardunó. He rests on the 4x4 after they went riding. "It's like being in two different worlds, out here it's like daydreaming", Marcos says. They ride together almost every day. Mexican Gardunó works at an American owned ranch just outside of Bowling Green. “I like it, I get to stay out all day and work with horses,” he says. Out of the 54 million hispanics in this country 64.1 % of them are Mexican.

The Hispanic invasion in the US is coming from within. Marcos, Paco and Nayda Espinoza are half Guatemalan and Mexican and are born and raised in the US. They are sons and daughters of illegal immigrants. They represent a generation of Hispanics, the biggest and youngest minority group in the States currently counting nearly 57 million people. Never before in the history of America has a minority ethnic group made up such a large share of the youth. One-in-five schoolchildren are Hispanic and every fourth child born is Hispanic (Pew Research Center).

The Barrillas family fled Guatemala 25 years ago escaping local violence and built a life on the West Coast. After 20 years in California the Barrillas and Espinoza family bought a ranch and now reside in Bowling Green, Ky, USA. This is the story of three generations that have built a life on American soil, but staying true to their Latinamerican roots. They are a family of Rancheros, the Latino version of an American cowboy.